The present invention relates to a surveying instrument, particularly to a survey instrument capable of recording an image data of a target object and a distance data of the target object by associating these data with each other, and the invention also relates to a method for acquiring an image data by using the surveying instrument.
In recent years, for the purpose of acquiring map information, it has been necessary to acquire, not only surveying data of a target point, but also an image of the target point. Thus, it is now practiced to acquire the surveying data and to take and record the image of the target point.
However, in the conventional method, a target object is determined, and general surveying operation is performed on the target object. In addition to the general surveying operation, the image of the target object is taken by means such as an electronic camera. In this respect, there is disadvantages such that it is troublesome to perform surveying operation on the target object and to take images on or around the target object. Also, it is very difficult to associate the surveying data with the images thus taken.